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MA is a ‘right to shelter’ state. In summary, if you have no place to live and you qualify for public housing but there’s none available then the state will put you up in “transitional housing”, i.e., a hotel. We have one such hotel down the street from us. (Cost to state = $82/family/night for a 200ish sq.ft. room. No kitchen facilities.) My wife is one of a group of volunteers who puts on occasional Sunday evening meals at the hotel. The main course is usually something like pasta w/sauce or lasagna. They also offer salad and fruit. Sometimes there are leftover of the main course but the salad and fruit are always gone quick: a) fruits and vegetables are relatively expensive when you’re on a tight budget and b) refrigeration is an issue at the hotel and you don’t want to spend your limited budget on things that have a significant risk of spoiling.

When I argued it was possible under ideal conditions it was possible to eat on four dollars a day, I was thinking more along the lines of the produce and dried beans sections of the 99 Cents Only Store.